I bought this quite a few years ago in an antique shop.... The sleeve it is in makes it look like it has quite a bit more pitting than it does. I would guess this to be around an MS55- MS60.... Please tell me what yall think...
Rather tough to tell, but I'll just take a shot-in-the-dark and estimate it at MS62/63RB (Red/Brown). Also, The Sheldon Scale is a '1-70' grading scale, MS60-MS70 being the only mint-state grades. '55' would be classified as 'AU' or 'Almost Uncirculated'. -Brian
The browning is caused by oxidation. Back in the day, there was almost no way to avoid this oxidation when storing your coins. Even though the coin may appear to be fully "red" in color, chances are that it has miniscule brown spotting on it's surface. This spotting is enough for it to be refered to as a "red-brown" coin by most TPG's. "RD" coins are far more desirable than "RB" coins. -Brian
Wow, theres not a whole lot more I can add that igradems hadn't already covered. Even though its called "red", its also another way of saying it looks like it just came out of the mint. The darker shades give it that combo red/brown designation. Nice coin nonetheless.
The PCGS price guide in MS64 has the RD at $60 and the RB at $52. Not a big difference. I think your VDB is RB. I don't think it had a shot for an RD designation. This is only my opinion based on the photos.
So if it is tough to tell the grade of the coin based on the pics, why offer up a grade of AU? There is no way to determine if that coin is AU or BU from those pics.